Why Brock Cunningham and Chris Beard Are The Perfect Match at Texas

Beard has always respected Cunningham's game from afar. Now, they'll work together on the quest for a championship

Brock Cunningham walked off the court with his Longhorn teammates in Indianapolis this past March as a cloud of disappointment rained over their heads. 

It was only the first round of the tournament and it all happened so fast. Could they really be headed home this early? 

The three-seeded Texas Longhorns had been bested 53-52 by the gritty underdogs of Abilene Christian in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Under head coach Shaka Smart, the team had won the first-ever Big 12 men's basketball title in program history, but now had nothing to show for it. 

Cunningham was one of the most underrated contributors for the Longhorns during the conference tournament run. In the Big-12 championship game win against Oklahoma State, he stuffed the box score with seven points, eight rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in 25 minutes of action. 

Despite only averaging 1.6 points per game last season, Cunningham found himself playing almost all of the final 10 minutes against Abilene Christian seven days later. Sacrificing his body for loose balls and blocking two shots helped keep Texas in it, but to no avail. 

“It was difficult," Cunningham said during his media availability this past Tuesday. "We were on the wrong end of an upset and there were a lot of changes because of that game." 

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The most obvious of these changes was the restructuring of the coaching staff, as Smart departed to head north to coach at Marquette. Replacing him? Former Texas Tech head coach Chris Beard, who sat beside Cunningham in front of reporters on Tuesday. 

"It was no more than a week for me to recover and get back to the process," Cunningham said. "I think it was a little over a week when Coach Beard got the job, I made my way back to Austin in the gym and we started working the next day.”

It's been nearly six months since Beard's hiring and it seems as if he and Cunningham have already forged a special relationship. The new head coach even admitted he's always been a huge fan of the junior's aggressive and fearless play-style. 

“Brock’s a guy that plays the game and wears his passion and intensity on his sleeve," Beard said. "He’s the leader of our team in a lot of ways, every team has gotta have one of these guys.“

But words did little in proving the chemistry the two of them already share. Their body language at the podium said it all. 

As new Longhorn and Creighton transfer Christian Bishop answered a question, Beard seemed to write something down before sliding the piece of paper over to Cunningham. Beard pointed towards the paper as the two shared a laugh. 

“No doubt about it, I’ve always had respect for players that play the game with a 'no regret, no back-up plan' kind of approach and Brock was always that guy," Beard said.

This kind of respect was evident during Beard's final year in Lubbock last season. The new head coach recalled an impressive block Cunningham had made in front of the Red Raiders, as Beard slapped hands with Cunningham in appreciation despite coaching the other team. 

“We had the chance to watch (Cunningham) on the circuit in high school but didn’t have much success recruiting him. Not sure why we couldn’t even get a home visit,” Beard said jokingly, earning a smile from Cunningham.

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It's clear that the admiration between the two has been present for quite some time. Still, Beard knew that the departure of Smart meant re-recruiting the four remaining players on the roster from a season ago, Cunningham included. But the decision to come back was an easy one for the Austin native.

“I had already decided I was gonna come back," Cunningham said. "This university is for me, couldn’t imagine myself being anywhere else.”

With a return for his junior season on the Forty Acres now confirmed, Beard had secured his x-factor. Cunningham seems to be the perfect fit for Beard's coaching style, as he can affect the game in a number of ways on both ends without always needing to score the ball. 

“He’s the ultimate competitor," Beard said. "I don’t want to speak for him but our teams and our staff have always respected him from afar.”

Now, the new challenge presented itself to both Cunningham and his new head coach. With Andrew Jones, Jase Febres, and Courtney Ramey also deciding to return, the rest of the roster would be filled with new transfers that have never played with one another. 

Yet, Cunningham wasted no time in stating how the maturity of the group would help overpower this unfamiliarity.

"Everyone at different places has done extraordinary things," Cunningham said. "Marcus (Carr) was a great player at his previous school, Timmy (Allen), Christian (Bishop), Devin (Askew). And everyone has their talents, and with our maturity, we’re able to highlight those and do what we’re good at on the court.” 

Beard and his new coaching staff were able to secure one of the best transfer classes in recent memory. With the surplus of talent, Cunningham will likely remain as a spark off of the bench. But anything to win, right? 

“The dynamic of new guys coming in and the four returners has all mellowed out cause we all want to win," Cunningham said. "Everyone knows that their goals will become reality if the team goals happen. If we win, good stuff happens for the individual players and we have a mature team the oldest team in the country and we all realize that.”

Texas begins its season on November 9 at home against Houston Baptist, as a new era of Longhorn's basketball begins. 

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